wildscape. literary journal Gold Star Program Gold Star

****PLEASE READ ALL GENRE-SPECIFIC AND GENERAL GUIDELINES BEFORE MAKING A SUBMISSION - We are a small team and following our guidelines helps us IMMENSELY. I know it's a lot of information, but if you are asking that we read and consider your work, we are asking that you take the time to read over what we need in order for us to keep this process as efficient as possible. Thank you! <3

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COST:
-To submit work: free! We do not charge for general submissions. We do allow tips though (for which we are eternally grateful), and we do offer expedited responses for certain tip amounts:
-Expedited Response in <48 hours: $5+
-Expedited Response in <24 hours: $8+
**Expedited Responses can be paid for as a tip on the tip jar page of the submission process. A $5+/$8+ tip will automatically initiate the expedited process.

***If Duosuma is not accessible to you for any reason, or if it's giving you trouble, feel free to submit to us via Google Forms, or via email instead at [email protected] (please include a short <75 word, third-person bio in the body of your email, and include your submission as a single attachment for poetry, or separate attachments for fiction, nonfiction, & art).

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GENRE-SPECIFIC GUIDELINES (general guidelines are below the genre-specific guidelines):

*POETRY*

-Up to 5 poems, less than two full pages per poem

-12pt font, times new roman

-Upload only as .doc/.docx (you may upload as a PDF if formatting requires it)

-PLEASE submit all poems in ONE DOCUMENT. DO NOT submit one document per poem. Doing this will delay our response time, as your poems will then be split up between readers/editors.

-Please start each poem on a new page and be sure that the titles for each poem are clearly marked (in italics, bold, underlined, whatever)

-Please leave all identifying information (name, address, email address, etc.) off of your submission document itself. We prefer to read blind (i.e. not knowing who the author is).

-Hard sells: rhyming poetry, overly-sexual poetry for the sake of being overly-sexual, horror, vulgarity for the sake of being vulgar (i.e. it must have a purpose or add something to the poem).

-We strongly recommend checking out our most recent quarterly/regular issue to get an idea of what type of work we enjoy.

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*FLASH FICTION/FLASH CREATIVE NONFICTION*

-Up to 2 pieces. Please keep each piece under 1,500 words

-12pt font, times new roman, double spaced

-Each flash piece should be uploaded in its own document (i.e. don't put two stories in one document). Upload only as .doc/.docx (NOT PDF, unless your piece is uniquely formatted and a PDF is needed).

-Please leave all identifying information (name, address, email address, etc.) off of your submission document itself. We prefer to read blind (i.e. not knowing who the author is).

-We strongly recommend checking out our previous issues to get an idea of what type of work we enjoy.

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*ART*

Please send up to ten pieces of art. We prefer the whimsical and the beautiful, the ethereal and the wild. We love abstract, as well as any and all mediums/techniques. Genre does not matter, but we tend to lean away from horror and nude photography. You are also welcome to submit your work to us via email at [email protected] if that is easiest for you.

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GENERAL GUIDELINES & INFORMATION:

-Third-Person Bio: Please keep your bio under 75 words.

-Languages We Accept: We can only accept work written in predominantly English, though work with words/phrases in other languages is absolutely welcome. Translations are welcome, provided you have permission to use the original work.

-Previous Contributors: We ask that contributors of the most recent regular issue skip one submission period before submitting work again, but this does not apply to art contributors, nor does it apply to themed issues.

-Multiple Submissions: We allow up to THREE submissions per issue. We also allow more than one submission at a time. We do ask, however, that your submissions be separated based on the genre-specific guidelines (i.e. please do not send multiple genres within one submission, and do not send more than one submission's worth of work within one submission).

-Cover Letters: A cover letter is not mandatory and will not affect our decision, as we will not read it until after seeing your work. However, we always enjoy learning a little about you, and welcome any information you'd like to share with us about you and/or your work. Keep it as casual as you'd like! We're pretty chill over here.

-Simultaneous Submissions: Simultaneous submissions are more than welcome (and expected). In fact, we encourage them! No need to let us know if the work you've submitted to us has also been submitted elsewhere. All we ask is that you notify us ASAP if a piece has been accepted for publication elsewhere. You can withdraw the specific piece from your submission, leave us a note/message in Duosuma, or email us directly ([email protected]) if you need to withdraw a submission or a piece of a submission.

-Previously Published Work: So long as you have the rights to your previously published work, and can prove that you do (i.e. contract with previous publisher, screenshot from communications with them confirming that you do, etc.), then you are welcome to submit it! We will not need proof of such until/unless your work is accepted, but please do mention that it's previously published in your cover letter.

-Compensation: Unfortunately, since we are a small team, a new indie magazine, and don’t charge for submissions, we are unable to pay our contributors at this time (but we hope to in the future). We do, however, nominate for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, as well as Best New Poets, O. Henry Prize, and Best Small Fiction.

-Response Time: It can take us up to 60 days to make a decision on a submission. Sometimes, if things are slow, we might respond in a couple of weeks. Other times, if we're swamped, it could take as long as eight weeks. If you don't hear from us within 60 days, please feel free to reach out via email, at [email protected]. If you want a quicker response, we do offer expedited submissions (see top of this section under "COST")

-WE DO NOT ACCEPT: Hateful words of any kind (if you need clarification on this, then we might not be for you). We believe that black lives matter, that the people of Palestine & Sudan & the Congo & Haiti & all other oppressed populations/nations deserve to be free, & that love is love is love. If you send work that enables the oppression of any marginalized people, you will be banned from making future submissions. We reserve the right to rescind acceptance/publication of your work if it is found that you are expressing hate towards any oppressed/marginalized groups. We also do not accept work that has been created using AI in any capacity.

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